What does 1 Corinthians chapter 5 mean? (2024)

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1It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans, for a man has his father’s wife. 2And you are arrogant! Ought you not rather to mourn? Let him who has done this be removed from among you.

3For though absent in body, I am present in spirit; and as if present, I have already pronounced judgment on the one who did such a thing. 4When you are assembled in the name of the Lord Jesus and my spirit is present, with the power of our Lord Jesus, 5you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord.

6Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? 7Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. 8Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

9I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— 10not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. 11But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler—not even to eat with such a one. 12For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? 13God judges those outside. “Purge the evil person from among you.”

1It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that even pagans do not tolerate: A man is sleeping with his father's wife. 2And you are proud! Shouldn't you rather have gone into mourning and have put out of your fellowship the man who has been doing this? 3For my part, even though I am not physically present, I am with you in spirit. As one who is present with you in this way, I have already passed judgment in the name of our Lord Jesus on the one who has been doing this. 4So when you are assembled and I am with you in spirit, and the power of our Lord Jesus is present, 5hand this man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord.

6Your boasting is not good. Don't you know that a little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough? 7Get rid of the old yeast, so that you may be a new unleavened batch--as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. 8Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old bread leavened with malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

9I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people-- 10not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world. 11But now I am writing to you that you must not associate with anyone who claims to be a brother or sister but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or slanderer, a drunkard or swindler. Do not even eat with such people.

12What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? 13God will judge those outside. 'Expel the wicked person from among you.'

1It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and sexual immorality of such a kind as does not exist even among the Gentiles, namely, that someone has his father’s wife. 2You have become arrogant and have not mourned instead, so that the one who had done this deed would be removed from your midst.

3For I, on my part, though absent in body but present in spirit, have already judged him who has so committed this, as though I were present. 4In the name of our Lord Jesus, when you are assembled, and I with you in spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus, 5I have decided to turn such a person over to Satan for the destruction of his body, so that his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord.

6Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough? 7Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed. 8Therefore let’s celebrate the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

9I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people; 10I did not at all mean with the sexually immoral people of this world, or with the greedy and swindlers, or with idolaters, for then you would have to leave the world. 11But actually, I wrote to you not to associate with any so-called brother if he is a sexually immoral person, or a greedy person, or an idolater, or is verbally abusive, or habitually drunk, or a swindler—not even to eat with such a person. 12For what business of mine is it to judge outsiders? Do you not judge those who are within the church? 13But those who are outside, God judges. REMOVE THE EVIL PERSON FROM AMONG YOURSELVES.

1It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and the kind of sexual immorality that is not even tolerated among the Gentiles--a man is sleeping with his father's wife. 2And you are arrogant! Shouldn't you be filled with grief and remove from your congregation the one who did this? 3Even though I am absent in the body, I am present in spirit. As one who is present with you in this way, I have already pronounced judgment on the one who has been doing such a thing. 4When you are assembled in the name of our Lord Jesus, and I am with you in spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus, 5hand that one over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord.

6Your boasting is not good. Don't you know that a little leaven leavens the whole batch of dough? 7Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new unleavened batch, as indeed you are. For Christ our Passover lamb has been sacrificed. 8Therefore, let us observe the feast, not with old leaven or with the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

9I wrote to you in a letter not to associate with sexually immoral people. 10I did not mean the immoral people of this world or the greedy and swindlers or idolaters; otherwise you would have to leave the world. 11But actually, I wrote you not to associate with anyone who claims to be a brother or sister and is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or verbally abusive, a drunkard or a swindler. Do not even eat with such a person. 12For what business is it of mine to judge outsiders? Don't you judge those who are inside? 13God judges outsiders. Remove the evil person from among you.

1I can hardly believe the report about the sexual immorality going on among you — something that even pagans don’t do. I am told that a man in your church is living in sin with his stepmother. 2You are so proud of yourselves, but you should be mourning in sorrow and shame. And you should remove this man from your fellowship.

3Even though I am not with you in person, I am with you in the Spirit. And as though I were there, I have already passed judgment on this man 4in the name of the Lord Jesus. You must call a meeting of the church. I will be present with you in spirit, and so will the power of our Lord Jesus. 5Then you must throw this man out and hand him over to Satan so that his sinful nature will be destroyed and he himself will be saved on the day the Lord returns.

6Your boasting about this is terrible. Don’t you realize that this sin is like a little yeast that spreads through the whole batch of dough? 7Get rid of the old 'yeast' by removing this wicked person from among you. Then you will be like a fresh batch of dough made without yeast, which is what you really are. Christ, our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed for us. 8So let us celebrate the festival, not with the old bread of wickedness and evil, but with the new bread of sincerity and truth.

9When I wrote to you before, I told you not to associate with people who indulge in sexual sin. 10But I wasn’t talking about unbelievers who indulge in sexual sin, or are greedy, or cheat people, or worship idols. You would have to leave this world to avoid people like that. 11I meant that you are not to associate with anyone who claims to be a believer yet indulges in sexual sin, or is greedy, or worships idols, or is abusive, or is a drunkard, or cheats people. Don’t even eat with such people.

12It isn’t my responsibility to judge outsiders, but it certainly is your responsibility to judge those inside the church who are sinning. 13God will judge those on the outside; but as the Scriptures say, 'You must remove the evil person from among you.'

1It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father's wife. 2And ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you. 3For I verily, as absent in body, but present in spirit, have judged already, as though I were present, concerning him that hath so done this deed, 4In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, 5To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. 6Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?

7Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: 8Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

9I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with fornicators: 10Yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or with idolaters; for then must ye needs go out of the world. 11But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat. 12For what have I to do to judge them also that are without? do not ye judge them that are within? 13But them that are without God judgeth. Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person.

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To this point, Paul has criticized the Corinthian church for issues such as pride and self-sufficiency. As one might expect, this has led to other problems and mistakes. At the end of chapter 4, Paul noted that the believers in Corinth were behaving as if they were unaccountable—as if there was no chance they would be confronted for their behavior. In this chapter, Paul applies his serious remark about discipline (1 Corinthians 4:21) to a heinous real-life example of sin among the Corinthians.

In 1 Corinthians 5, Paul confronts the church for ignoring an ongoing case of incest by a member of the church. Instead of feeling sad about the sin in which this man was openly indulging, the Corinthians continued to be proud of themselves and judgmental of others. Two groups from Corinth had visited Paul in Ephesus. One or both reported to him that a man in the Corinthian church was engaged in a sexual affair with his father's wife. Though the woman was not the man's biological mother, this qualified as incest under both Jewish law and even the moral standards of that era's pagan culture. It was a clear and indisputable case of open sexual immorality (1 Corinthians 5:1–2).

Paul commands the church to remove the man from among them. By this, Paul means that this person is to be treated as a non-believer, and one not welcome in the congregation; he will explain this in more detail later. Most likely, the woman in question was an outsider, rather than a self-identified Christian. Paul declared the man guilty and told the Corinthians to consider Paul as being present with them in spirit at their next meeting. Then they were to deliver the man to Satan for the destruction of his flesh to make it possible for his spirit to be saved from the Lord's judgment. His purpose for this church discipline is mostly for the sake of helping the sinner—seeking his repentance—but also for the good of the church (1 Peter 2:12; 2 Peter 2:1–2). The church ought to have already dealt with such a serious issue (1 Corinthians 5:3–5).

Why had the Corinthians not taken action in this matter already? Paul again calls out their boasting. Their pride kept them from removing a sin from among them that threatened to spread, like bad leaven in good dough, to the whole community. Leavening agents were passed from old, fermented dough into new dough. A small bit would eventually grow as it was mixed into clean, fresh material. Paul's point is that sin is contagious—they must treat this man and his sin as the Jewish people would treat leaven during the Passover celebration, removing it completely from their homes. Paul reminds these believers that they have already been saved by the blood of Christ, the ultimate Passover lamb. Now they must celebrate that salvation by removing malice and evil from their lives and replacing it with truth and sincerity (1 Corinthians 5:6–8).

Paul reminds them, as well, that he has commanded them before not to associate with sexually immoral people. The principle he discusses here applies to all unrepentant sins, and to any self-professed believer who stubbornly practices sins like greed, swindling, idol worship, regular drunkenness, and angrily insulting others. Despite this need for reasonable discipline, Paul clarifies that this does not apply to those outside the church. To entirely avoid all contact, with all sinners, in all ways, would require believers to leave the earth! Rather, Christians are responsible to judge anyone among them who claims to be a Christian. Those who act in blatantly un-Christian ways should be excluded from that community of believers (1 Corinthians 5:9–13).